Gilead Win in Drug Patent Fight Is Said to Threaten Research

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and other institutions are urging the Federal Circuit to reconsider a decision reversing Bristol-Myers’ $1.2 billion patent win against Gilead Sciences Inc. over a cancer drug, arguing the ruling threatens cancer research.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in August found the patent didn’t adequately describe the invention and was invalid. The ruling unraveled a $1.2 billion award against Gilead.

St. Jude said the court’s “super-heightened description standard” puts research hospitals in a bind: either pursue narrow patent claims that copycats can easily avoid infringing, or spend significantly more time and ...